Note: You must establish a session for Fall Academic Term 2003 on wolverineaccess.umich.edu in order to use the link "Check Times, Location, and Availability". Once your session is established, the links will function.

AMCULT 102. First Year Seminar in American Studies.

Prerequisites & Distribution: Only first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may pre-register for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor. (3). (SS). May not be repeated for credit. Laboratory fee required.

AMCULT 102. First Year Seminar in American Studies.

Instructor(s):
Nadine Naber

Prerequisites & Distribution: Only first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may pre-register for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor. (3). (SS). May not be repeated for credit. Laboratory fee required.

First-Year Seminar

Credits: (3).

Lab Fee: Laboratory fee required.

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

This course explores the history of Arab migration to the U.S. and Arab and Muslim engagements with U.S. racial formations. The course will focus on representations of Arab and Muslim women within popular American culture and the diverse identity formations of Arab and Muslim women living in the U.S. Students will study identity formation in relation to the U.S. nation and Arab and Muslim homelands. This course will address the diversity of Arab and Muslim experiences and shifts in Arab and Muslim identity formation before and after September 11th. This course is interdisciplinary, focusing on social science articles, novels, poetry, and film.

AMCULT 102. First Year Seminar in American Studies.

Prerequisites & Distribution: Only first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may pre-register for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor. (3). (SS). May not be repeated for credit. Laboratory fee required.

First-Year Seminar

Credits: (3).

Lab Fee: Laboratory fee required.

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

Mammy. Jezebel. Matriarch. Welfare Queen. This first-year seminar introduces students to the experience of African American women through the study of representation in the past and present. Beginning with the imagery of jezebel and mammy constructed during the slavery era, we will trace and define the changing yet interrelated representations of Black women in American society. Throughout the course, we will study processes by which stereotypes about race and gender intersect to define African American women in particular, limiting, and recurring ways. We will consider the ideologies from which these images have stemmed as well as the social and political uses to which these images have been put. We will also examine the myriad ways that African American women have challenged, rejected, redeployed, and transformed these images. Our materials for this course will include works of history, cultural criticism, fiction, autobiography, and film.

This course will be run in a lecture-and-seminar format and will explore and critique literary, cinematic, and theoretical representations of American masculinity, mainly focusing on the 19th and 20th centuries, with some view to contemporary cultural developments. We will follow Michael Kimmel's Manhood in America, read a selection of literary, historical, theoretical, and critical texts on the subject, and watch several films.
Requirements include attendance, active and intelligent participation in class and group projects, and willingness to be challenged by new concepts and ideas. Possible mini-quizzes, several reading responses, short written assignments, and midterm and final exams.

AMCULT 206. Themes in American Culture.

Section 001 — Aids and America.

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (SS). May be elected more than once for credit. Repetition requires permission of the concentration advisor. Laboratory fee required.

Credits: (3).

Lab Fee: Laboratory fee required.

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

This is a truly interdisciplinary course, working with materials from the natural and social sciences and the arts and humanities. We will deal with a wide range of subjects from the biology of HIV and the medical treatment of AIDS to the politics and sociology of a world-wide epidemic and the nature of artistic creations in the midst of a terrible epidemic. Students will write papers, do class projects, and participate in discussions. There will be frequent quizzes. Class attendance is required, and classes will be devoted to discussion, conversations with guests, and occasional films.

AMCULT 222. Elementary Ojibwa.

Courses in Ojibwa

Instructor(s):
Irving N McCue

Prerequisites & Distribution: Non-LS&A students must have permission of the American Culture Program Director. (3). (LR). May not be repeated for credit.

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

This course is designed to give the conversational and cultural skills necessary to enable students to use Ojibwa in real life situations. The teaching methods are entirely inductive, and the role of writing is downplayed. There is considerable emphasis on teaching culturally appropriate behavior, and the simple conversational patterns of greetings, leave takings, introductions, table talk, etc.

Native American Studies

Section 001.

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (HU). May not be repeated for credit.

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

While there is widespread interest among many non-Natives about the religious traditions of indigenous people, Native communities are becoming increasingly hostile toward non-Natives who seek knowledge about Native spirituality. This course will introduce students to the issues and controversies surrounding the study of Native religious traditions and will prepare them for further study of Native religions in a manner that is sensitive to the needs and concerns of Native communities. Issues to be covered include the relationship between the Christianization and colonization of Native communities, spiritual appropriation, spirituality and political activism, Native religions and public policy, and contemporary debates surrounding Native religious identity. This course will provide a foundation for students who wish to pursue in depth studies of indigenous religious traditions.

Racialized images of Asians have had a powerful impact upon American history. From the Charlie Chan films of the 1930s to the Jackie Chan action flicks of the 1990s, this course will examine how film and television have both reflected and shaped Asian culture and identity in the U.S. We will watch both feature films, such as Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon," Jet Li's "Romeo Must Die" and Quentin Lee/Justin Lin's "Shopping for Fangs," and documentaries produced by Asian Americans and non-Asians. Readings will provide deeper insight into the roots of Asian stereotypes and the reasons why American views of Asians have shifted over the past century.

Topics we will study include: Asian immigration, white actors playing in "yellowface", the World War II internment of Japanese Americans, the relationship between Asian Americans and African Americans, representations of women and masculinity, the Vietnam War, hate crimes, activism, and multi-ethnic coalition-building.

AMCULT 305. Asian Pacific American Community Service and Learning.

Section 001.

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (Excl). May be elected twice for credit.

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

In this course, we will examine strategies for building Asian Pacific American communities and developing leadership skills through community service learning and practice. We will focus on research and community service projects for the Asian/Pacific Islander American (APIA) community in Michigan, focusing on those in the Metro Detroit area. Working with local community organizations like the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), the Association of Chinese Americans (ACA) Chinatown Drop-In Center, American Citizens for Justice/Asian American Center for Justice (ACJ), and the Philippine American Community Center of Michigan (PACCM), we will uncover local histories that are relevant to activism, APIA Studies, the APIA Movement, and APIA communities. For the final project, students will conduct community-based research and design public events and materials that educate and empower the community. This course satisfies one course requirement for the APIA Studies Minor.

AMCULT 310. Topics in Ethnic Studies.

Section 002 — Sports and U.S. Empire.

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (SS). May be elected for a maximum of 6 credits. May be elected more than once in the same term. Repetition requires permission of the concentration advisor. Laboratory fee required.

Credits: (3).

Lab Fee: Laboratory fee required.

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

What can sport tell us about empire? Much more than you might think. In the last two centuries the globalization of sport, as organized games and cultures, has owed considerably to its participation in empire, just as the proliferation of empire owed much to the success of sports.

The focus of this course will be on two empires in particular: the British empire from 1800-1980, and what is often considered the American "empire", mostly from the 1890s to the present (although we will consider prior imperial relations with Native Americans such as the appropriation of Lacrosse and sports in Indian Boarding Schools). Each of these empires had different sporting and imperial projects, and the purpose of this course is to give a sense of the specifics and generalities of this.

The British empire component will focus on cricket, rugby, and to a lesser extent, association football (soccer); it will consider the development of organized sport, its connections with education and government, and the growth of cultures of masculinity, war and empire. Countries which will be discussed include Britain, the Indian subcontinent, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the Caribbean.

The U.S. empire component will focus on baseball, basketball, football, and cheerleading, paying specific attention to similarities and differences with British imperialism (the development of the sports in relation to public education and government, and the themes of gender and sexuality, indigenous responses, race, war, and U.S. overseas expansion. Countries covered include the Caribbean and Latin America, the Philippines and the U.S. Pacific Islands of Guam, Hawai'i, and American Samoa.

This is a course for sports lovers and haters alike; for thinking students who wish to gain a historical and critical insight into one of the most important and pervasive cultural formations of our time: sports.

The course will be joint taught by Professors Vicente Diaz and Damon Salesa. Dr Diaz is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz, and has published widely on American culture and sport. He comes from the island of Guam, and is a former college football player. Dr. Salesa has played representative-level rugby, cricket and soccer; he comes from New Zealand. He is a graduate of Oxford University, England, and specializes in the history of the British empire.

Assessment will be based on discussion outlines (bullet point summaries of readings and thoughts, one page per week); 2 book reviews (3 pages each); 1 group presentation report (1 page each participant); final project (10-12 pp. paper, or other, e.g., Multimedia production); class attendance and participation.

AMCULT 310. Topics in Ethnic Studies.

Section 005 — Blacks, Indians, and the Making of America. Meets with CAAS 333.001.

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (SS). May be elected for a maximum of 6 credits. May be elected more than once in the same term. Repetition requires permission of the concentration advisor. Laboratory fee required.

This combined lecture/seminar will explore intersections in African American and Native American histories and lives. We will build upon material students have previously encountered in Afro-American studies, Native American studies, American studies, and American history to develop an understanding of the significant historical interrelationship between Blacks and Indians in the formative years of the American colonies and the United States. This course also may serve as an introduction for students who are not familiar with Native American historical topics.

Our course of study will include key moments and issues in the African American and American Indian pasts, with a focus on the themes of colonialism, slavery, racial formation and racial categorization, tribal sovereignty, and American national identity. We also will examine contemporary manifestations of this shared past, the current political implications of Native and Black relationships, and the construction and experience of "Black Indian" identities.

This course is a team-taught, interdisciplinary service-learning course on the experience of Filipinos in America. By integrating academic course work with personal reflection and community involvement, we will interactively learn about Filipino Americans' role in historical events, contemporary issues, and how these affect community formation and life in America. A large focus will be on Filipinos of the Midwest, with a special emphasis on the Metro Detroit area. By looking at different waves of Filipina/o immigration to the U.S., we will see the Pinoy & Pinay experience in various regions and sectors of American society: education, labor, family, politics, and communities, to name a few. We will also determine how Filipina/o American issues are reflected through historical, sociological, psychological, autobiographical, and literary texts, while also uncovering "new" historical findings. Students will have the opportunity to interact with local community members by conducting an interview as part of the Filipino American Oral History Project of Michigan, a collective effort between University of Michigan faculty, students, staff, and community members. Since the project's inception two years ago, we have collected photographs, life histories, and artifacts that have been published in book form. Through the FAOH Project, Ma'arte Tribe Productions, and an Arts of Citizenship grant, we will continue these efforts by designing original presentations and leading workshops for youth at Paaralang Pilipino, a cultural school housed in the Philippine American Community Center of Michigan (PACCM) in Southfield.

This course examines the history of the two largest groups of Latin Americans living in the United States, those originating in Mexico and those originating in the Spanish Caribbean. It presents Latino history as an overlap between Latin American and United States societies, beginning with comparative European colonization of the New World, continuing with United States conquest of and imperial expansion into Latin American territories, and finally considering the massive migration of Latin Americans to the United States. It asks how, in the context of this overlapping history, the incorporation of Latin Americans as immigrants, workers, and citizens in the United States compares with the incorporation of other immigrants and of African Americans. Readings include a wide array of primary documents about Latino experiences. Discussion sections require hands-on analysis of these historical sources.

Section 005 will be taught in Spanish. Students who participate in the Spanish-language discussion section will receive four credits for the course. All other students will receive three credits. Students electing this option must also enroll in UC 390-002.

AMCULT 322. Intermediate Ojibwa.

Courses in Ojibwa

Instructor(s):
Irving N McCue

Prerequisites & Distribution: AMCULT 223 and permission of the American Culture Program Director. (3). (LR). May not be repeated for credit.

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

This course is designed to improve the basic conversational skills of the student who knows some Ojibwa. The emphasis in class is on increasing the range of situations in which the student can use Ojibwa in real life. Some emphasis is placed on teaching the students to be able to learn more Ojibwa outside of the classroom, by talking and using the language with native speakers.

AMCULT 335. Arts and Culture in American Life.

Section 001.

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (HU). May not be repeated for credit.

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

An advanced introduction to the arts in 20th-century U.S. cultural history, this course will establish the late nineteenth-century context and then survey some key topics in twentieth-century America artistic life and popular culture. Special emphasis will be placed on Black/white relations in the arts, the politics of culture in the first half of the 20th century, and the shifting meanings of modernism and postmodernism. We will approach these themes especially through developments in music, literature, art, and film. The multidisciplinary perspective developed here will introduce students to the comparative interpretation of a spectrum of cultural phenomena — including the high modernist poetry of T.S. Eliot, Duke Ellington's jazz music, Hollywood comedy during the Great Depression, Zora Neale Hurston's Harlem Renaissance literature, Jackson Pollock's abstract expressionist painting, the soul music of Aretha Franklin, and the postmodernist ideas lurking within popular films like "The Matrix" — as sites of historical inquiry. The course will explore how the elite art practices and discourses of modernism and postmodernism developed not in an isolated vacuum but rather as symbiotic responses to the ever changing commercialization of cultural life and ordinary leisure. Therefore, the rise and transformation of mass culture will be of particular interest. As the course moves up to the present time, we will emphasize how the multiple worlds of popular music continue to serve as battlegrounds over the representation of gender roles, cultural identity, and racial and ethnic diversity. The format will be two lectures per week plus a required discussion section. There will also be several required film screenings outside of class. Requirements should include attendance, midterm and final exam, brief written commentaries, and periodic reading quizzes.

AMCULT 345. American Politics and Society.

Section 001.

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (SS). May not be repeated for credit.

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

Studying current political controversies and social problems will stimulate the search for insight into deeper questions of politics and society. We will follow selected political and social issues using newspapers, magazines, electronic and entertainment media, and the Web. There also will be readings from more scholarly sources in the social sciences. Students will write papers, do class projects, and participate in discussions. There will be frequent quizzes. Class attendance is required, and classes will be devoted to discussion, conversations with guests, and occasional films.

AMCULT 350. Approaches to American Culture.

Section 001 — AMERICAN CULTURE CONCENTRATORS ONLY!

Prerequisites & Distribution: AMCULT 201, junior standing, or concentration in American Culture. Permission of instructor required. (3). (Excl). May not be repeated for credit.

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

This course is an
introduction to methodology in and development of the field. We will
concentrate on the ways in which the scholarship/field have addressed
the politics of representation in popular constructions and mobilizations
of diverse American identities. Our reading list will include texts that
have worked to shift the paradigms in the field: Roy Harvey Peace's Savagism and Civilization,
Eric Lott's Love and Theft,
George Lipsitz' The Possessive Investment in Whiteness, Priscilla Wald's Constituting Americans, as well as a number of scholarly articles. Course requirements will include a research paper (13-15 pages) and
a class presentation on research paper topic.

In this course, we will explore the social and creative processes whereby ideas and images of race and ethnicity have been produced, circulated, and contested in U.S. cinema from the silent period to the year 2002. In addition to analyzing the thematic and stylistic content of films produced both inside and outside of the Hollywood studio system, we will consider the historical factors that have tended to affect racial and ethnic representation, such as the implementation of censorship, foreign policy, technological change, and grassroots social movements. Group discussion in both section and lecture will be emphasized, as well as critical writing exercises. Using the resources provided, students will be expected to familiarize themselves with the critical vocabulary and historical background needed to carefully examine, compare, and critique the construction of race and ethnicity in and through U.S. film. Throughout the course, we will discuss:

the changing definition of "race" and "ethnicity" on the Hollywood screen;

the social barriers variously experienced by African, Arab, Asian, and Native Americans as well as Latino/as in gaining access to the film industry;

the intersection of racial and ethnic representation with issues of class, gender, and sexual identity;

historical parallels and differences between the experiences and treatment of people of color with members of "white" ethnic groups in the Hollywood film industry; and

creative strategies used by filmmakers, performers, and viewers to combat racism and discrimination in U.S. cinema.

Mandatory weekly screenings (the evening "lab" component) will feature mainstream and independent feature films, as well as experimental shorts and documentaries by directors of diverse social and ethnic backgrounds. A $35 lab fee will be charged to cover audiovisual expenses.

AMCULT 363 / WOMENSTD 363. Asian/Pacific American Women.

Section 001.

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (Excl). May not be repeated for credit.

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

This course focuses on the experiences of Asian American and Pacific Islander American women in the United States from historical, anthropological, sociological, psychological, musical, and literary perspectives. The texts and films include an introduction to APIA women's issues, allowing students to compare and contrast the experiences of different APIA ethnicities and generations. Discussions will be led by students and the instructor, focusing on the intersectionality of race, gender, sexuality, and class. For the final project, students will conduct an oral history interview or community-based research project on Asian/Pacific Islander American women.

This course is a wide-ranging survey of Native North American encounters with European and American empires. It examines a variety of Native American responses to the challenges of conquest, dispossession, and colonialism. In doing so, it examines such Native American initiatives as religious revitalization, tribal development, legal challenges, and movements for intertribal unity. It examines a range of imperial, federal, and state approaches to what we might call Indian policy. Representations of Native Americans constitute another dimension of the course, as do the questions of identity, cultural change, and transformation.

Field experience in organizations, institutions, and service agencies under such University of Michigan programs as the Washington and New York Internship Program and Project Community. Students must make individual arrangements with these programs.

AMCULT 389. Reading Course in American Culture.

Instructor(s):

Prerequisites & Distribution: Permission of instructor required. (1-4). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT). May be repeated for credit for a maximum of 4 credits. Repetition requires permission of the department.

Credits: (1-4).

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

An independent study course available to undergraduates who are interested in designing a reading list for the purpose of exploring new areas in the field of American Studies. Each student makes individual arrangements with a faculty member in the student's area of interest.

This course will use scholarly texts, newspaper articles, fiction, feature and documentary films, and the personal experiences of teachers and students to examine how the concepts of race and ethnicity have operated and continue in American society. What are race and ethnicity, racism and ethnic bias? How has the challenge of racial and ethnic diversity impacted American efforts to construct a good society over the course of the nation's history? Do race and ethnicity continue to structure American Society? Our assumption will be that there is no "right" answer to these questions. Rather, students will be introduced to a range of critical voices on race and ethnicity and encouraged to explore and challenge their own views, those of their fellow students, and those of the professor.

AMCULT 422. Advanced Ojibwa.

Courses in Ojibwa

Instructor(s):
Irving N McCue

Prerequisites & Distribution: AMCULT 323 and permission of the American Culture Program Director. (3). (Excl). May not be repeated for credit.

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

This course is aimed at giving students with conversational ability in Ojibwa the opportunity to both improve their speaking and listening skills and to introduce them to Ojibwa literature, and the various dialects represented in the literature. Students will work with the original, unedited texts, as well as with edited, re-transcribed materials, and thus learn about the problems of working in a language without a standard widely accepted.

AMCULT 493. Honors Readings and Thesis.

Instructor(s):

Prerequisites & Distribution: Senior standing and a grade point average of at least 3.5 in Honors concentration. Permission of instructor required. (1-3). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT). May be repeated for credit for a maximum of 6 credits. Continuing Course. Y grade can be reported at end of the first-term to indicate work in progress. At the end of the second term of AMCULT 493, the final grade is posted for both term's elections.

Credits: (1-3).

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

Independent interdisciplinary study supervised by two or more tutors leading to an original paper. A grade is not posted until the end of the second term.

AMCULT 496. Social Science Approaches to American Culture.

Instructor(s):
Paul Anderson

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3-4). (Excl). May be elected more than once for credit. Repetition requires permission of the concentration advisor. Laboratory fee required.

Credits: (3-4; 3 in the half-term).

Lab Fee: Laboratory fee required.

Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.

The world of African American writers and artists flourished as never before in the Harlem Renaissance or Negro Renaissance of the 1920s. This seminar aimed at juniors and seniors will first approach the Renaissance through such contexts of African American cultural and political history as urban migration (specifically to Harlem), the experience and aftermath of World War I for African Americans, and the radical challenges of Garveyism and socialism. However, we will focus most of our attention on an array of fascinating African American texts from the period especially novels, poems, manifestos, and songs.
We will study non-fiction and literary writings by such key figures as W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, Alain Locke, James Weldon Johnson, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, and Jean Toomer. Their creative texts will help us retrace historic Renaissance debates about the battle against white racism as fought in the fields of literature, art, and popular culture, contrasting visions of Black nationalism, separatism, and internationalism, the legacies of folk expression and the African cultural inheritance, and the political functions of African American art. We will also look to the importance of music and art for the Harlem Renaissance. Finally, the course will examine the aftermath of the Renaissance and the widespread radicalization of African American artists and intellectuals during the Great Depression of the 1930s as represented by the work of Richard Wright. While there are no prerequisites, it is expected that students will have taken done prior coursework related to the study of African American literature or culture in the first half of the twentieth century.

Have you been active in community service programs, taken community service learning courses, been involved in public projects or activism? What challenges do you face in integrating the public dimension of your work with your academic interests? How can we connect democratic public culture, scholarship, community institutions, and creative action?

This seminar is designed for students interested in developing a more complex and effective understanding of community-based work in the arts and humanities. In particular, it is designed for students who have been actively involved in community service learning programs and public projects. Students are invited to bring their own community-based work to the table during the intellectual explorations in this course. The seminar provides an opportunity to reflect on and develop an interdisciplinary context for your own public work.

The seminar combines a public orientation with rigorous reflection on the social importance of the arts and humanities. Central to the course are issues of cultural democracy, patriotism, performance, leadership, schools and youth, race and ethnicity. The seminar is organized around four large topics: public work; public language; public people. Each 'big idea' will be introduced through a case study of an outstanding cultural project that brought about significant change in a particular community.

Requirements include an unflinching commitment to the demands of a collaborative enterprise; sustained participation in all class sessions, as well as some required activities scheduled outside of class time; weekly reading assignments; weekly responses; and a final 'case study' project, which will take shape through a series of writing assignments and which will be presented orally to the seminar. In addition to stressing effective writing, the seminar puts a premium on effective speaking. Several regional cultural leaders will visit the seminar to talk about their work. Tuesdays will focus on ideas and concepts, Thursdays on case studies. Each week, one student will serve as "documentarian," serving as scribe and summarizing the previous day's discussion at the beginning of class. We will work from a course pack and from a selection of books. Readings include selections by, for example, Augusto Boal, Sekou Sundiata, Robin Kelley, Harry Boyte, Kristin Hass, Lucy Lippard, Paulo Freire, Dolores Hayden, Ralph Cintron, Ross Tallarico, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Dana Gioia, Sharon Sutton, Roberta Uno, John Kuo Wei Tchen, Don Adams and Arlene Goldbard, Liz Lerman, Dudley Cocke, Richard Wood, Carmen Sirianni and Lewis Friedland, Tracy Kidder, Myles Horton.